As the first half’s final seconds ticked off the clock, Maryland’s Jamie Kaiser Jr. stole the ball near midcourt, quickly dribbled to get a bit closer to the basket and released a shot from the red “M” logo at Xfinity Center an instant before the buzzer. After the ball swished through the net, Kaiser raised his arms triumphantly.
Maryland
Terps find their range to trounce UMBC and end a three-game slide
It was that kind of Tuesday night for the Terrapins during a 92-68 win over Maryland Baltimore County, a victory that ended a three-game slide that matched the longest since Coach Kevin Willard took over last season. The Terps (2-3) also avoided starting 1-4 for the first time since 1968-69.
Jahmir Young led Maryland with a game-high 20 points; he finished 9 for 11 at the free throw line. The fifth-year point guard had four of the Terps’ 12 steals that were part of UMBC’s 23 turnovers. The Terps held a 24-6 advantage in points off turnovers and made 24 of 37 free throws; UMBC made 9 of 14.
Maryland’s Julian Reese added 15 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and the ninth of his career. The 6-foot-9 junior had his way around the low block, sparking the Terps to a 48-30 advantage in points in the paint.
“We just talked a lot about just flowing into offense a little better,” Willard said. “And we also talked about [how] we need to press a little bit more aggressively to create some easy [baskets]. … When you get a couple easy buckets early, it just gives you more confidence, and you’re able to kind of wear them down a little bit.”
The Terps shot 31 for 68 (45.6 percent) from the field to finish above 40 percent for the first time since starting the season by shooting 49 percent in a 68-53 win over Mount St. Mary’s on Nov. 7. Maryland was coming off its worst shooting performance of the season; it made just 12 of 50 tries (24 percent) in Friday’s 57-40 loss at then-No. 21 Villanova.
On Tuesday, Donta Scott chipped in with 14 points, his most of the season, on 6-for-11 shooting, and DeShawn Harris-Smith had 12 points, sinking 5 of 9 shots.
Guard Ace Valentine scored 15 points off the bench for UMBC, which got just seven points from Khydarius Smith, who spent much of the game in foul trouble. The forward-center, a graduate transfer from South Carolina Upstate, had averaged a team-high 16 points in the first five games for the Retrievers (3-3), who dropped to 0-16 in the series.
Maryland took a 57-24 lead into halftime on the strength of a 32-6 run, including Kaiser’s heave, that ended the competitive portion of the proceedings. Moments before Kaiser’s improbable three-pointer, he stole the ball and converted the turnover into an uncontested dunk.
“It looked good ever since it left his hands,” Young said of Kaiser’s only three-pointer of the game. “It looked good from the bench. … That was good for our team going into the locker room.”
The opening 20 minutes had a markedly different feel for the Terps compared with that of their previous game, when they trailed Villanova 39-15 at halftime. This time, the Terps amassed their most first-half points since Jan. 19, 2010, when they had 57 against Longwood.
“Obviously we lost this game in the first half,” Retrievers Coach Jim Ferry said. “Give Maryland a lot of credit. They came out highly motivated. I think you saw what they can be this year.”
Amid Tuesday’s lopsided result, the search for a regular starting lineup two weeks into the season continued for Willard, who since opening night has deployed three iterations. Against the Retrievers, Willard sent out the starting lineup from the first two games, when he went with Reese, Scott, Young, Harris-Smith and Jordan Geronimo.
Geronimo, a transfer from Indiana, had come off the bench in the previous two games, with Willard giving sophomore Noah Batchelor and Kaiser stints in the starting lineup. Kaiser finished with eight points and three steals in 13 minutes off the bench Tuesday.
Willard gave 10 players double-digit minutes by going deep into his bench in the second half.
“Getting our bench guys extended minutes is huge because it gives them a chance to play without extreme pressure,” he said. “It’s really hard when you’re a freshman, you’re a guy who hasn’t played a lot of minutes before and you’re a sophomore, to have to now come in and play at a high level when you haven’t done it a lot.”